The Last Portal (6 page)

Each species
that could communicate, and had a written language, had been
recognised by the ancient builders and given a portal. These
builders had also selected a representative of each species and
trained him, or her, as a Guardian. Since the selection of the
first Guardian, the bloodline had remained unbroken. The seven
Guardians formed the ruling council that governed the planet, and
had largely been responsible for the sustained peace that had
lasted thousands of years. It was generally accepted that the
builders had modified these individuals in some way, so that they
had a range of unique mental abilities tailored for the portals.
For instance, Batarr had a far greater ability to see distant
worlds than the other Guardians, and was therefore considered the
leader of the Council. He also could decipher and speak the
language of certain intelligent animals such as the Caan. Although
conflicts still occurred, destructive weapons, so prevalent on
Earth, had never been invented simply because the idea of using
such weapons was considered abhorrent.

Susie actually
had to spend some time persuading Sasli that these weapons existed
on Earth. Batarr, however, knew all about humans and their
destructive nature. If Zelnoff managed to access and harness
Earth’s weapon stockpiles there would be little chance of ever
stopping him. This realisation hit everyone hard.

The situation
was further reinforced when Batarr announced he had lost contact
with the Guardian of the portal to the west.

When Joe asked
what this meant, he said simply, ‘Zelnoff’s forces killed her.
There are now only two of us left.’

Yet, against
this backdrop there was also hope. Within a few days, Chris started
receiving random thoughts he couldn’t identify. On the third day,
this fact was dramatically brought home. Chris was sitting with Joe
eating lunch amongst a group of Batarr’s soldiers when he began
hearing voices.

‘They’re so
young and look so strange,’ a voice was saying. ‘What’s Batarr
doing with such creatures?’ Chris looked up from examining his
strange-smelling food.

‘Huh…you know I
can’t identify anything on this plate.’ Joe was pushing his food
around with a 2-pronged fork - a common eating utensil among
Batarr’s soldiers.

‘Well, what do
you expect?’ Chris replied, searching for the owner of the voice.
‘We’re not even in the same dimension.’

‘The one with
the chin. He looks nasty to me. And that fat smelly one… how can
these creatures be of any use?’

‘You know,’ Joe
had his nose in his plate of food, ‘this food smells off to me. And
what’s this brown stuff?’ He tried lifting up a puddle of brown goo
on the side of his plate. The food just flowed back onto the plate.
‘It’s like runny poo. How are we supposed to eat this?’

In the far
corner of the room a woman, who had the same grey features and pale
green eyes as Batarr, was staring across at them. If these people
aged at the same rate as humans, she would be around thirty, Chris
estimated.

When she
realised Chris was looking at her, the voice said, ‘He’s watching
me. How did he know I was thinking about him? Must not stare, these
creatures are supposed to have strange powers.’ Immediately she
averted her eyes.

Chris realised
he had been reading her thoughts. When he concentrated, the
thoughts of other soldiers also flowed into his mind. No one, it
appeared, seemed to be able to conceal their thoughts from him.
Well, not quite ‘no one’. When he turned his attention to Joe and
Susie he got nothing. Apparently, Batarr explained later, his
powers did not extend to fellow Mytar.

Chris spent
much of the next few days wandering amongst Batarr’s soldiers
trying to understand their thoughts. The underground complex was
much larger than he had first realised. It seemed to resemble a
‘spider web design,’ with layers of rooms strung around a central
cluster of rooms consisting of a meeting room, where they had first
talked to Batarr, a staff eating area and an adjoining kitchen. The
living quarters came in the next layers, with the higher-ranking
soldiers in the rooms closest to the centre. Lastly, the outermost
circuit of rooms consisted of supplies and ammunition stores. In
all, there were at least fifty separate rooms, housing well over
two hundred of Batarr’s personal guard and servants. Chris detected
strong emotions amongst these people, some confusion and
apprehension, but largely a fierce loyalty to Batarr that, if
necessary, would extend to their lives.

But as Chris’s
powers of perception grew, so did a new set of problems. In a
crowded room, the thoughts of others seemed to magnify. It was like
a hundred screaming kids wanting his attention all at once. His
mind was consumed with so much thought he found it almost
impossible to untangle his own thought processes from those of
others − headaches, nausea, and even vomiting followed. Chris was
quickly driven to the most isolated parts of the complex, where he
would huddle in the corner of rooms for hours clutching at his head
and even screaming − anything to still the voices.

When Susie and
Joe found him in this state they immediately alerted Batarr. His
reaction was to initiate an intensive training course to teach
Chris to block out these random thoughts. He taught Chris to calm
his mind and take it to another place; peaceful, serene and
enclosed by impenetrable mental barriers that were impervious to
random thoughts. Every time he visualised this place it became more
real, easier to step into, more inviting to stay and meditate in.
In the end, Chris could conjure up this vision in any situation and
under any circumstance and drive the voices into submission. These
lessons came just in time. The creeping sense of insanity retreated
as Chris regained control of his soaring abilities.

After a week of
these lessons, Chris was starting to feel normal again. He felt
confident enough to resume his wandering of the complex, but this
time focusing his mind only on the people that he selected. During
one of these late night trips, he encountered Batarr warming
himself by the fire, with a hot drink. Chris knew Batarr was deep
in thought and didn’t want to be disturbed. But he was a Mytar,
after all. He no longer needed to talk to someone to know their
thoughts.

He crept up
behind Batarr, being careful not to alert him to his presence. This
would be fun, he thought, as he locked his mind onto the back of
Batarr’s head. He would be able to tell Susie and Joe exactly what
Batarr was thinking at any time. For a few moments he received
impressions of an unfamiliar place. A room, sparsely decorated, and
there was also some other presence, but he couldn’t form an image
of this person in his mind. Then, in an instant, the image
vanished. In his mind, he saw Batarr turn toward him, but this was
not the Batarr he knew. A searing pain struck one side of his head
like a hammer blow. He lurched backwards and fell onto the floor.
Vision after vision crashed through his brain in quick succession:
hideous visions of demons, monsters, countless hordes of creatures
fighting and dying, huge flying creatures with bat-like wings and
red insect eyes that rained down destruction on whole towns and
cities, people screaming, burning, dying, their eyes wide with pain
and terror; their screams bored into his brain.

Chris felt the
grip of powerful hands lift him up and sit him in a chair. Susie’s
deeply concerned face appeared; her mouth moving rapidly as she
shook him. But he couldn’t hear anything over the multitude of
hideous voices and sounds that were pounding at his brain. Then, as
suddenly as it had started, the pain, the voices and the visions
were gone. Susie was screaming hysterically into his face.

‘I’m fine, I’m
fine,’ Chris moaned, trying to focus on Susie’s flushed
features.

‘What
happened?’ she cried.

Batarr was
crouched next to him. ‘This is my fault.’ He ran his hand through
his greasy hair. ‘I had no idea.’

‘No idea of
what?’ Joe asked.

‘The damage we
were doing.’

‘What are you
talking about?’ Susie asked.

‘I was
communicating with the last Guardian when I felt that my thoughts
were being probed. My immediate reaction was to repel the intruder
by flooding his mind with destructive images which would have
forced him to break contact, or lose his mind. I had no idea it was
Chris. The other Guardian would have also done the same, so Chris
would have received double the dose. By the time I realised our
error, Chris had already suffered enormously.’

Chris looked up
into his pale green eyes, which a moment ago seemed so frightening.
Joe scowled at Batarr, but said nothing.

‘There’s no
lasting damage,’ Batarr continued in a surprisingly up-beat tone.
‘You have a very powerful gift. I’m very pleased at your progress.
Few, if any, could have penetrated my thoughts successfully. But I
must first teach you how to read someone’s mind without being
discovered, and how to protect yourself in case you are.’

The enthusiasm
in Batarr’s voice was obvious and rather surprised Chris. ‘And this
gift helps us how?’

‘If it’s
developed properly, your gift could be used over long
distances.’

Chris was
completely lost. ‘Long distances?’

‘With my help,
you should be able to train your mind to leave your body and travel
anywhere.’

‘You mean look
for Zelnoff?’

‘Yes. Soon
Zelnoff will be gathering his advance forces at a captured portal
to cross into your world. He’ll have to make a personal appearance
to direct proceedings. But we don’t know which portal he’ll use,
and without this information we cannot mount an attack.’

‘An attack!’
Batarr now had Joe’s full attention. ‘You want to attack
Zelnoff?’

Batarr smiled
briefly at Joe’s incredulous tone. ‘He will never expect us to
attack him. If we can kill, or even injure him, his whole command
could crumple.’

‘So you want me
to find him?’ Chris asked.

Batarr
nodded.

Chris could see
the logic of this argument. If Zelnoff used his strength of will to
control this planet, only a strike aimed directly at him would
stand any chance of success. Susie and Joe were watching Chris
intently, and a wave of resentment swept across him. He should be
home watching TV, or playing computer games, not embarking on this
madness. Haven’t Joe or Susie got similar powers, can’t they help?’
he asked.

At this comment
Batarr sighed, a distinctly strained expression spreading over his
face. ‘Do you know Chris, why I found you before any of the other
Mytar?’

Chris shook his
head.

‘Because your
vibrations were much stronger, I could feel your presence long
before the others. Susie and Joe have their abilities, but you have
the powerful Mytar gift to travel great distances with your mind
and read the thoughts of other intelligent creatures.’

Chris thought
that would be his answer. Susie and Joe looked on in silence. Their
lack of any counter argument confirmed that they couldn’t offer any
other alternatives.

He nodded
slowly. ‘Alright,’ he said finally, ‘so when do you start teaching
me how to avoid getting my brain fried?’

In the following days,
Batarr and Chris were locked for many hours in strenuous mental
exercises that left Chris with acute exhaustion and bad headaches.
His two friends could do little except look on and provide
sympathy. Each night, Batarr brewed a concoction from the roots of
local plants that had been collected during the day. The mixture
tasted sweet and spicy and it burned all the way down to Chris’s
stomach, but it cured his headaches and spread reassuring warmth
throughout his body.

At first,
Batarr immediately knew each time Chris tried to read his thoughts,
but with every passing day, Chris’s abilities grew: he could read
more and more of Batarr’s thoughts before he was detected. Batarr,
however, retained the ability to block off his mind at will, so
Chris could never access his thoughts unless he permitted it. This
ability Batarr also taught Chris, so he could construct a mental
wall of thought to avoid anyone else reading his mind.

A week later, Batarr
met them at breakfast - something he never did. His usual warm
greetings and accompanying smiles were replaced by an earnest
intensity that Chris was quickly learning meant only bad news.

‘I lost contact
with the last remaining Guardian yesterday,’ Batarr said, dropping
into a chair and focusing his attention exclusively on Chris. ‘The
day before, this Guardian had observed unusual activity around his
area.’

‘What type of
activity?’ Susie asked.

‘Troop
movements largely,’ Batarr said, pulling at his long black hair. A
habit, Chris noticed, Batarr usually engaged in when he was deeply
troubled.

‘I can usually
feel his presence, but this morning there was nothing.’

Batarr focused
on Chris. ‘I was hoping there would be more time, but Zelnoff may
have already extracted information about our whereabouts. You’ll
have to make the attempt as soon as possible.’

Chris felt a
shudder travel down his spine. ‘You mean today?’

‘I mean this
morning, there’s no time to waste.’

‘But I’m not
ready.’

Batarr had
blocked his thoughts so Chris couldn’t read him, but there was
finality in his voice that drained away any further argument.

‘I’m truly
sorry this has turned out like this,’ Batarr said solemnly. ‘But
there’s no other choice.’

They met in the
main meeting room two hours later. Chris looked pale. He had been
physically sick with fear and had to use the toilet more times than
he cared to remember. Susie had tried to comfort him earlier, after
one of these visits, only to be snapped at. Since then, Chris had
not spoken to anyone. He was withdrawing into himself, trying to
find the strength he needed to survive this ordeal.